


When All is Lost, Then All is Found

by Nerdasaurus1200



Series: Elsa Padare AU [1]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies), Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Adoption, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Breastfeeding, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Implied Stillborn, Jericho thinks Elsa's a baby angel, blizzard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:36:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28787313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdasaurus1200/pseuds/Nerdasaurus1200
Summary: My first fic for my Elsa Padare au, in which Cassandra and Varian adopt Elsa because she deserves good parents
Relationships: Cassandra/Varian (Disney: Tangled), Elsa & Varian (Disney)
Series: Elsa Padare AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110542
Kudos: 12





	When All is Lost, Then All is Found

Elsa practically skipped up the stairs to the attic. It was always so exciting helping her father decorate for Christmas. She always got up here early to start bringing down the decorations. But this time, it would be a few extra minutes since Varian was in the middle of, as he put it, a revolutionary new invention. Oh well, she could always pass the time by looking through her old keepsake trunk. Nobody knew this, but she’d actually stolen Sir Jorgen Bjorgen out of there last month. Quiet as a mouse, she unlocked the trunk and opened it. But this time, there was something she’d never noticed before. A small medallion; a black ribbon with a golden crocus. Why on earth would this thing be in her keepsake trunk? And...why did it look so familiar? Then it hit her. That dream she kept having, she saw this in her dream!

“Okay, snowdrop, now we can-“ Varian announced, but froze and even paled when he saw the medallion in her hands.

“Dad..what is this?” Elsa asked softly.

“I ah….” Varian was at a loss for words.

“Dad?” She asked carefully, “I keep seeing this in a dream. And...a man. And a woman holding me. Neither of them are you or mom.” Varian was getting more and more uncomfortable by the second. Granted, he’d had this talk before, but it was much different this time. He knew nothing about Elsa before he found her. But still, she had a right to know what he knew. 

“Elsa..I think it’s time I told you something we should’ve told you a long time ago.” He began carefully.

“Alright…” Elsa replied, sitting down. Varian sat down across from her, taking a deep breath to steady himself. 

“You were kind of…” Varian began, and then his voice suddenly died. Why couldn’t he get the word out? “A-adopted.” He finally forced out.

Elsa had always suspected this, but that didn’t take away the slight sting. “If...If I’m not from here, then...where did I come from?” She asked. Varian chuckled softly at that, smiling nostalgically. “Well...you came from this.” Varian told her, grabbing a small potato sack out of her trunk. Elsa blinked in surprise. How in the world did she ever fit in that? She could barely fit her head in that! 

“It was on New Year’s Eve. We lost one of your sisters, and it was the worst storm we’d seen that winter…” He began fondly. 

_20 years earlier_

Jericho instantly clung to his dad the second the front door opened. The wind was roaring, and it was freezing outside. He was almost too afraid to go outside to the barn, but he quickly squashed that fear. He was six now. He was a big boy. He could put pumpkins in the cart now! He could help his dad calm down Bessie. As Varian walked, Jericho had a near death grip on his leg. Once they both entered the barn, he could finally hear Bessie mooing loudly. He’d never seen her so frenzied. 

“Woah, woah! Easy, old girl!” Varian tried to reassure. Jericho carefully approached Bessie to try and pet her belly, something that always calmed her down. But then he was suddenly scooped up by Varian, narrowly avoiding a hoof to the head.

“Doesn’t she like belly rubs, Daddy?” Jericho asked, confused and completely oblivious to the hoof.

“I’m not sure those are gonna do it this time buddy. This storm is really scaring her.” Varian explained. He looked around, trying to find a place where Jericho wouldn’t get trampled. 

“Why don’t you head up to the loft? You can be my lookout.” He suggested. 

“Okay, Daddy!” Jericho said enthusiastically. It took a bit of struggling, but he was able to climb up to the loft on his own. However, as soon as he got up there, he heard a shrill screaming. Instinctively he covered his ears. But then he looked in the hay where the source of the screaming was and saw a small potato sack half buried in it. That was strange. Daddy never kept any food up here. Although it was far from easy on the ears, he approached the sack, opened it up and saw…

A baby. It was small, tinier and skinnier than any of his sisters had ever been. It almost looked like Lil Cassie. Except this baby was paler, had a light dusting of freckles, sapphire blue eyes, and hair that almost looked like snow. It looked like..an angel! Papa Hector was right! 

“Daddy, Daddy, come quick!” He shouted, “There’s a baby angel up here!” 

“A what?” Varian asked, very confused as he was finally calming Bessie down. 

“A baby angel! Come see!” Jericho said again. Now that Bessie had calmed down, Varian could hear the crying, but he still wasn’t quite sure what Jericho was talking about. As quickly as he could, he climbed up to the loft. “See? Mama and Papa Hector were right!” Jericho said excitedly. Varian stared in awe as he approached the little baby. She couldn’t have been older than a few days. Whoever had given birth to her must’ve been either really cleanly or really sneaky. Probably both.

“You’re probably right, buddy”. He murmured. He gently took the baby out of the sack, and saw that there was another thing inside. A medallion with a golden crocus on it. Whatever this thing was, he had no idea. But he knew for certain he couldn’t just leave this baby out in the barn to starve. 

“Why don’t we take her inside?” Varian recommended. 

“And we can show Mama!” Jericho marveled. And sure enough, as soon as they got back in the house, that’s exactly what he did. 

“MAMA MAMA, WE FOUND A BABY ANGEL!” He exclaimed, rushing towards his mother. Cassandra only stared at her son for a second, looking very confused. 

“What?” She asked him. Jericho excitedly recalled the tale, but Cass was only picking up every fourth word. 

“I’ll tell her, Jerry. It’s way past your bedtime.” Varian instructed as he came in. 

“Kay, Daddy. Can Mama tuck me in?” Jericho asked. 

“In a little bit, son. Your Mama and I have to talk about this new baby.” Varian explained. 

“Okay. Night, Mama. Night, Daddy. Night, baby angel.” Jericho bade goodnight. And with that, he toddled off to bed. 

“So um...Jericho and I found a little surprise in the barn.” Varian began. He moved his arm a bit so Cass could better see the fussy baby in his arms, “I know we talked about drying you up since...but this little gal looks malnourished. And is definitely VERY hungry.” 

Cassandra stared mesmerized at the little baby in her husband’s arms. The poor thing looked so frightened. And she couldn’t blame her. She had no idea where she was, what was happening, or even where her mother was. Cassandra knew the feeling. She couldn’t quite help with those, but she could at least console her. 

“Let me see her.” Cassandra requested. Varian nodded, and handed the baby to her. As soon as Cass felt the familiar weight in her arms, her maternal instinct took over. Like clockwork, she pulled up her shirt a bit and moved the baby’s head near her breast. She smiled a little when she began to suckle, almost instantly calming down. For the first time since November, Cassandra was glad her body was still lactating. After a few minutes of feeding, the baby pulled away and let out a fairly loud burp. 

“Doesn’t that feel better, little one?” Cassandra asked softly. The baby only smiled at her, milk still dribbling from her little mouth. Varian couldn’t help but smile at the scene himself. He’d almost forgotten how much he loved it when Cassandra used her Mama voice. 

Once Cass knew the baby had a completely full belly, she set her down on a pillow by the Christmas tree, and sat across from Varian. For a moment, all she did was stare at him. 

“You know neither of us can afford another heartbreak.” She finally said. 

“I’m aware..but we can’t just abandon her, Cassie. She needs us. And..I think you need someone like her.” Varian said, “Believe me, I know she can’t replace Lil Cassie. Nobody ever could. But..at least neither of us will completely miss out on raising a little baby girl. She can help you heal.” 

Cassandra thought it over, and though she was terrified, she knew that once again her husband was right. Besides, she could never just turn away an innocent orphan. Before she could answer though, she heard a strange crackling behind her. She and Varian both looked over and saw that the baby had grabbed one of the lower tree branches, and now icicles were on the tree that were DEFINITELY not there before. 

“D-did she…?” Varian asked, too gobsmacked to even finish speaking. 

“Did you do that, little one?” Cassandra asked. The baby only smiled at her and giggled. Cassandra found herself smiling back, and picked up the little baby. “Anyone else would never accept this.” She realized, “I guess that means you’re staying with us, little snowflake. And if that’s the case we need to name you.” 

Varian thought for a moment, and remembered a name he briefly considered back when Luna was on the way. 

“How about Elsa?” He suggested. 

“My God is bountiful?” Cassandra chuckled a bit, “Varian Padare, giving his daughter a religious name? I never thought I’d see the day.” But all joking aside, Cassandra had to admit that the name suited her perfectly. “Elsa Cassandra Padare.” She murmured, “Welcome to the family.” For the first time in weeks, she smiled and leaned in as Varian kissed her temple. And Elsa was smiling back at her. Their Elsa. Their beautiful little snowflake.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave comments and kudos!


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